Tale of Two Cities: Lorain woman beaten & robbed; San Antonio robber killed

LORAIN — Joan Bahnsen still had a red, swollen jaw Tuesday morning caused by a man she says punched her and then robbed her West 23rd Street bar the night before. It was the second robbery in two months at the 62-year-old’s Highland Grill.

Bahnsen told police she was tending bar just before 10 p.m. Monday when a man came in acting strangely. He asked to use the phone and Bahnsen replied there was no phone available. Then the man told her he had a gun.

“He said, ‘I’m robbing you,’ and I said, ‘Oh no you’re not — not again,” Bahnsen said. “I swung around, and he caught me on the jaw. I was half out of it. He hit me pretty hard.”

Footprints from 40-year-old Norman Wilkerson’s house led directly to the dumpster where a stolen cash drawer was thrown away, according to Patrolman Doug Smith’s report. Another set led from his apartment to where he was arrested.

“This gets a little expensive after a while,” Bahnsen said. “I’m just trying to run a business here, and you’ve got guys out there who won’t get a job or they’re smoking crack — whatever their problems are.”

Meanwhile, in a state that allows its law-abiding citizens to carry a concealed handgun for self-defense, a different outcome resulted when this Texas bar manager was confronted by an ice pick-waving robber:

Click on the Read More..." link below for the full story.

The San Antonio Light, San Antonio, TX

Confronted by an ice pick-waving robber in her San Antonio, Tex., tavern, Maria Villegas grappled with the intruder. An employee smashed the man in the head with a chair, allowing Miss Villegas to get a cal. .38 pistol from her purse. When the assailant ignored her warning to drop his weapon, Miss Villegas shot the advancing thug, who staggered to the door and fell outside, dead.

• Could the lifting of Ohio's unconstitutional ban on carrying a concealed weapon for self-defense have saved this Lorain robbery victim her injuries?

Contact information for the area's elected officials is provided below:

State House of Representatives
• Rep. Joseph Koziura (D-56) - consistent anti-CCW voter
Phone: (614) 466-5141
Fax: (614) 644-9494

State Senate
• Sen. Jeffry Armbruster (R-13) - voted against Sub. HB274
Phone: (614) 644-7613

Click here to read the entire story in the (Elyria) Chronicle-Telegram.